Well, it's late August again. In my kitchen, that means peach pie made from fresh local peaches! There is nothing like sweet juicy peaches, accented with some cinnamon and nutmeg, inside of a crisp, flaky crust. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side doesn't hurt either! You can use a 9" frozen pastry shell, but I prefer to make my own crust, and this recipe has ALWAYS gotten rave reviews (thanks, Aunt Bon!), so that is included below.



I always start by slicing and peeling the peaches, since that seems to take the longest. This bowl had about 20 peaches, but we were preparing for 3 pies! I find, depending on the size of the peaches, 1 peach equals roughly a cup sliced. Each pie calls for 5 cups of sliced peaches, so I usually slice 6 just to make a nice full pie. Just adding two extra to the batch above, we not only had FULL pies, but extra peaches after. Don't forget to splash them with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown while you slice.



When I'm done slicing and peeling, I move on to adding the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the peaches, so they can sit while I make the dough for the crust. This is what they look like after a while- this batch of peaches was extra juicy! They were just a little firm, so they held up well, but still released a lot of juice.



A close-up of the juicy goodness!




Then it's time to make the dough! This is the easiest dough in the world, and it turns out GREAT! Just add your flour, shortening, salt, and COLD water, then blend with a pastry blender just until combined. The recipe is for an 8" pie, but most pie plates now are about 9"-9 1/2", so I definitely double the recipe, and since this has an upper crust, I tripled it. I'm no good with conversions, and there are a million ways to use that extra dough!



This is what your dough should look like when you're finished mixing. Nice and flaky.



Charisa was a PRO at rolling this out. I haven't used a rolling pin in so long, I didn't know what to do with it! I have gotten so used to patting out everything I make. Also, lucky for me, she knew the fold-the-dough-over-the-rolling-pin-to-lift-it trick, and it worked beautifully!



Next, get your bottom crusts into the pie plates and egg-wash them, then you're ready to fill! I like a nice high pie, but be careful doing that with this one- this filling is very juicy, and your pies leaking in the oven can lead to smoke, and even small fires (we found out the hard way! Keep baking soda near hot surfaces at all times! It's a life saver!). I recommend trying to strain a bit of the juice off of the peaches before spooning them into the crust, and sliding a cookie sheet wrapped in foil on your bottom rack beneath the pie.



After dotting your filling with butter, apply your top crust, cut a few vents (a fun idea for vents is to use mini cookie cutters!), and prepare your edges (flute, or press with the tines of a fork). Follow with an egg wash, and you're ready to bake! If you notice your edges browning too quickly during the baking process, loosely cover with some tin foil and continue baking.



This is the finished result- a wonderfully crisp and golden peach pie. This first one was gone within an hour, and the second one is almost gone today. I would call that a success.



Pie Crust Dough (for an 8" crust)

2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 c. shortening
1/4 c. cold water (the colder, the better)

Combine ingredients in mixing bowl and blend with pastry blender just until everything sticks. I like to use my hands to finish mixing it before I roll it out.



Peach Pie

1 egg, beaten
5 c. sliced peaches
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
2 T. butter

Preheat oven to 450-degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate with pie crust dough. Brush with some of the beaten egg to prevent sogginess later. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; pour over the peaches and mix gently (this is when I usually make my pie crust, so the peaches have time to sit in the mixture a bit). Spoon peaches into the pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with other crust and fold edges under. Flute or press edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Brush the remaining egg over the top crust. Cut vents. Bake for 10 min. in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 350-degrees and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. Let cool a little before serving- warm is better than hot.